but then we could discuss the difference between lists and arrays and it wouldn't be worth it. I think I was able to get the OP to understand even if I wasn't completely accurate. I do think it would make for a good entry in "Perl Idioms Explained".

When putting a smiley right before a closing parenthesis, do you:

Use two parentheses: (Like this: :) )
Use one parenthesis: (Like this: :)
Reverse direction of the smiley: (Like this: (: )
Use angle/square brackets instead of parentheses
Use C-style commenting to set the smiley off from the closing parenthesis
Make the smiley a dunce: (:>
I disapprove of emoticons
Other